Apparatus for plumbing and gauging posts



1968 v. E. CHRISTENSEN APPARATUS FOR PLUMBING AND GAUGING POSTS SheetFiled Dec. 30, 1966 INVENTOR. VERNON E. CHRISTENSEN 1968 v. E.CHRISTENSEN APPARATUS FOR PLUMBING AND GAUGING POSTS Filed Dec 30, 1966Sheet 2 of 2 INVENTOR- VERNON E. CHRISTENSEN AGENT United States PatentOil ice 3,418,721 Patented Dec. 31, 1968 3,418,721 APPARATUS FORPLUMBING AND GAUGING POSTS Vernon E. Christensen, R0. Box 304, Yoncaila,Oreg. 97499 Filed Dec. 30, 1966, Ser. No. 606,127 9 Claims. (Cl. 33-180)The present invention relates generally to an apparatus for verticallypositioning and horizontally spacing ground supported posts and thelike.

An extensible, elongate apparatus for the accurate positioning andplumbing of consecutive posts, said apparatus being temporarilysuspended intermediate the upper ends of a pair of posts. Post engagingmembers of the apparatus are urged by resilient means into contact witha plurality of sides of each post and are associated with visualplumbing indicators. Pivot means are provided to permit uniformpositioning of guard posts along a curve of a high- Way to facilitateattachment thereto of a continuous guard rail.

An important object of this invention is the provision of means forvertically positioning or plumbing a loosely set post and simultaneouslygauging the spacing of the post from a preceding post. A particularlyadvantageous use of the present device, though not restrictively so, isin the setting of a series of posts in an equi-distant manner along aroadway wherein each post must be plumbed and located so as to presentone of its vertical surfaces substantially parallel to a guard rail forattachment of the latter.

A further important object is to provide a plumbing device includingadjustable pivot means for the setting of guard posts along the extendedcurve of a roadway. In this situation to facilitate bolted attachment ofthe guard rail to the posts it is important that the outer surface ofthe post adjacent the guard rail be transverse of that radius of thecurve on which the post is located. To locate said surface in such amanner for subsequent attachment of a guard rail, pivotal means areprovided by the present invention permitting angular offsetting of eachpost in a series, the extent of such offset being determined by theradius of the curve and post spacing therealong.

A further important object resides in the means provided allowingconvenient engagement of the plumbing members with the post being setwherein said means are resiliently biased into temporary engagement withthe sides of the post being plumbed. In a typical post setting operationalong a roadway, use of the present device results in a substantialsavings in labor man-hours by reason of simply being in restedengagement upon the posts thus obviating the need for auxiliary toolsfor attachment purposes.

A still further important object is the provision of indices on theapparatus to facilitate adjustment thereof when setting posts along acurve to allow for the reduced spacing between post centers as comparedto a straight course of posts.

These and other objects will become subsequently apparent upon a readingof the following specification and drawings referred to therein in whicha plumbing device of the nature contemplated by this invention isdisclosed.

With reference to the drawings:

FIGURE'l is a plan view of the present invention with sections removedand operatively disposed intermediate a pair of upright posts;

FIGURE 2 is a side elevational view of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a plan view similar to FIGURE 1 with the inventionconfigured for setting posts along a curve of a highway;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, detail view of the right hand end member of thepresent invention as viewed in FIG- URE 1 shown partially in place infull lines against a post and prior to supported engagement of the lefthand end member with its posts; and

FIGURE 5 is an end, elevational view of FIGURE 4 with parts broken awayand with arm members swung to the broken line position of FIGURE 4.

With continuing reference to the drawings and particularly FIGURE 1thereof, an apparatus in accordance with the present invention isindicated generally at 1, operationally suspended intermediate a pair ofhorizontally spaced posts P being plumbed and having surfaces at P1 andP2. The posts P, when of the type supporting a guard rail, areconventionally pre-bored at 2 during manufacture for reception of guardrail fastening elements For conveniently supporting the presentinvention bars 3 are temporarily inserted in a friction fit within thebores 2.

The apparatus 1 comprises a telescopic center section having anextensible tubular member 4 supported at its inner end within a maintubular member 5 which is slotted inwardly from its end at 5A andthereat provided with a clamp 6. The extensible tubular member 4 is inthe preferred form of the invention pivotally connected to and carriesat its outer end a right hand end member 7 while in a similar mannermain tubular member 5 carries a left hand end member 8 with both endmembers being of hollow construction. The terms right hand and left handare applied simply for descriptive purposes. The pivotal connectionsabove noted include outwardly extending ears 9 and 10 carriedrespectively by the tubular member 4 and the main tubular member 5 andcorresponding cars 11 and 12 carried by the right and left hand endmembers 7 and 8. Vertical pivot pins are indicated at 13 and 14 and maybe nut and bolt assemblies, as shown.

The following description of the right hand end member and the postengaging means carried thereby is equally applicable to both in view oflike components which are identified by like numerals.

The present invention is supported at each of its ends by support meansin the form of a U-shaped bracket support 15 secured at its base to theouter end of each end member. The arms of U-shaped bracket 15 extendhorizontally and have downwardly directed openings 15A formed thereinwhich, as best shown in FIGURE 2, receive the rod 3. The width of eachopening 15A gradually diminishes upwardly to permit precise positioningof the bracket arms on rods 3 regardless of varying diameters dependingon the diameter of bore 2. Such positioning of the apparatus by thesupport means insures the desired spacing of the posts and when settingposts along a straight course the alignment of the sides P2 of theposts. The bracket 15 is reinforced by upper and lower diagonal braces16 welded thereto and to the hollow end members 7 and 8.

Housed within the right hand end member 7 adapted for sliding,rectilinear movement therewithin is a cylindrical carrier 17constituting part of the post engaging plumbing means, said carrierhaving an elongated opening 17A (FIG. 4) therethrough and an end plate20 affixed to its outer end. Bolt 18 extends transversely of the endmember and loosely through openings 17A to constitute a limit stop foraxial and rotational movement of the carrier. Interposed between theinnermost end of the carrier 17 and the closed end of its supporting endmember 7 is an expansion coil spring 19 biasing the carrier in anoutward direction. The end plate 20, afiixed transversely to the exposedend of the carrier 17 (FIGS. 4 and 5) serves as a base for a pair ofvertical, transversely spaced hinges 21 having hinge pins 21A. Eachhinge includes hinge elements 22 secured to the plate 20 and a centralhinge element 23 similarly secured to the inner ends of a pair ofopposed right angular arms 24. Accordingly, the arms 24 are eachswingably mounted for horizontal movement about the vertical axis of itsrespective hinge pin 21A into engagement with post sides P2.

The angular arms 24 terminate in inwardly turned, postengaging portionsat 24A and each is apertured at 25 to thereat receive a bolt 26, thehead 26A thereof bearing against the post side of the arm and the locknut 26B bearing upon the outer side of bracket 15. Aligned with andcorresponding in size to the apertures 25 are apertures 27 formed in thebase of the U-shaped bracket 15, both pairs of apertures being of adiameter to loosely receive the bolts 26 permitting their axialdisplacement. Pairs of expansion springs 28 are carried by the bolts 26and bias the angular arms 24 outwardly away from the bracket about theaxis of hinge pins 21A to a post engagement as more fully describedlater.

The transverse end plate serves additionally to support, also in apivotal manner, visual indicator means indicated generally at 29including mutually perpendicular bubble-type leveling glasses 3031 morecommonly referred to as spirit levels, for use in plumbing surfaces P1and P2 in two different vertical planes. Said indicator means is carriedby a pivoted upright support 32 having a post-abutting edge 32A andattached to plate 20 in a manner permitting movement about a horizontalaxis by a bolt and nut assembly 34 constituting a pivot pin ex tendingintermediate clevis plates 33. The pivoted support 32 merges upwardlywith a first level mounting plate 35 which carries in a crosswise mannera second level mounting plate 36, each of which support, respectively,the leveling glasses 3031. The glasses may be of the conventional typeslightly arched along their length to indicate a plumb condition by acentering of the bubble within the liquid carrying glass. Metal casingsat 30A and 31A house the ends of the glasses 30-31 and include flangedportions receiving pairs of fasteners 38 and 39 removably attaching sameto their respective mounting plates. Each mounting plate is formed toprovide a relieved center portion allowing convenient viewing by aworkman of both leveling glasses from any angle. From theabove-described arrangement of the visual indicator means it will beapparent that the plumb condition of post surface P1 will be indicatedby leveling glass 30 while the condition of the two opposite parallelsurfaces P2 of the post will be indicated as follows by leveling glass31. Upon biased engagement of the arms 24 with the post surfaces P2, theplate 20 will tilt transversely, as permitted by carrier 17, tosimilarly tilt the support 32.

In a post setting operation along a straight course the telescopiccenter section of the present apparatus is adjusted and locked toselectively space the axially aligned right and left hand end membersand particularly the downwardly opening slots 15A in the arms of bracket15 to correspond to the specified spacing of the post centers. The postsP will previously have been placed in the usual manner within post holesformed on a diameter of a size permitting some degree of displacement ofthe post center incident to positioning. Additionally, each post will beprovided for positioning purposes, with a bar 3 inserted within thebores 2. In the spacing and plumbing of posts for supporting guard railsaccurate spacing is critical by reason of the metal guard rail beingpreviously drilled at specified points thus requiring the bore 2 of eachpost to correspond therewith for reception of guard rail fasteningmeans. Improper spacing of the post can result in costly delaysinvolving the extraction and resetting of the post.

Prior to completed placement of the present apparatus intermediate apair of posts, the cylindrical carrier 17 is in an extended position bythe action of spring 19 as typically shown in the full lines in FIGURE4. The extended position of the carrier 17 automatically causes the arms24 to be swung to an open, post-receiving position by the restrainingaction of the linkage comprising bolts 26 and springs 28.

In the following description of a typical post spacing and plumbingoperation utilizing the present invention, the post supporting the lefthand end member as viewed in FIGURES 1 and 2 may be assumed to have beenpreviously spaced and plumbed by an identical preceding operation.

The cylindrical carrier 17 slidably mounted in the right hand end member7 is, prior to placement of the apparatus intermediate a pair of postsas aforesaid, in the extended position by action of springs 19. Withparticular reference to FIGURE 4, the full line position depicts thebracket support and post engaging means partially in place against thepost P while in broken lines the same are shown advanced to the fullyengaged position as also shown in FIGURE 1. It will be understood thatthe left hand bracket support (FIG. 1) has been seated on the rod 3prior to placement of the right hand end member. As the right handbracket 15 and post are brought into engagement, internal spring 19 iscompressed upon support 32 contacting surface P1 to allow seating of theopenings 15A on the rod 3 as shown in broken lines-in FIGURE 4. The postspacing and alignment is accordingly completed. Simultaneous with theinward movement of carrier 17 relative to the bracket 15 the axes ofhinge pins 21A will be displaced permitting the arms 24 to be biasedinto contact with post surfaces P2 by springs 28.

With placement of the apparatus completed it will be apparent that theplumb condition of surface P1 of the post supporting the right hand endmember will be indicated by the levelling glass 30 while the plumbcondition of the adjacent sides P2 of the post will be indicated byglass 31. An out-of-plumb condition of the side surfaces P2 will resultin the arms 24 transversely tilting plate 20 and hence the normallyhorizontal axis of pivot pin 34 to tilt level support 32 and theleveling glass 31. As previously noted, the bolt 18 extends looselythrough the elongated opening 17A, the clearance there betweenpermitting the slight rotational movement of the carrier and its endplate 20 incident to the last described plumbing operation.

The bracket arms 15 in supported engagement with the rods 3 insures thedesired spacing between the two posts and additionally, in the case ofposts being set along a straight course, that the corresponding surfacesof each post in a series of posts being in parallel alignment to oneanother.

As previously noted in the setting of guard rail supporting posts alongthe curve of a roadway correct placement is complicated by theadditional requirement that the outer surface of each post, i.e., thesurface adjacent the guard rail, must be at right angles to that radiusof the curve on which the post is located. Accordingly, the sidesurfaces of each post set along the curve of a roadway Will necessarilybe out of alignment with the remaining posts spotted along the curve.Said surfaces, as typically shown in FIGURE 3, will be oifset apredetermined number of degrees depending on the post spacing and theradius of the curve. The offset, once calculated, will determine theangular displacement of both right and left hand end members 7 and 8about the upright axes of the pivot pins 13 and 14 from the axis of theapparatus center section. For this purpose a pointer and indices indegree increments as shown in FIGURE 3 may be provided for the sake ofconvenience.

Further facilitating the placement of posts along a curve is theprovision of spacing indices on the extensible tubular member 4 topermit axially adjusting of the said member relative to the main tubularmember 5. The spacing indices allow the operator to telescope or shortenthe telescoping members to allow for the reduced distance between guardposts along a curve. The reduction will be determined by the radius ofthe curve with the indices on tubular member 4 being marked with thecommonly used radius for highway curves. Accordingly, the shorter theradius of turn, the lesser the distance between the guard'posts.

Although shown and described in conjunction with the spacing andplumbing of posts generally rectangular in section it will be apparentto those skilled in the art that with minor modification of the postengaging means the apparatus is equally practical for use with postscircular in section.

While I have shown a particular form of my invention it is to beunderstood that many minor modifications will be apparent to thoseskilled in the art, such modifications being within the spirit and scopeof the present invention. Having thus described my invention, what Iclaim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. An apparatus for spacing and plumbing consecutive ground supportedposts comprising in combination, an elongate center section forplacement intermediate a pair of posts and including a pair of endmembers,

bracket support means for said center section carried by said endmembers and positionable into supported and fixed relationship adjacentto the upper end of both of said posts, and

post engaging plumbing means comprising in combination an elongatedcarrier slidably supported at one of its ends by and telescopicallyextendable from at least one end member, pivoted arm means attached tosaid carrier and positionable into and out of contact with at least twosides of said post, visual plumbindicating means supported by saidcarrier and positionable by said pivoted arm means to indicate the plumbcondition of said two sides of one of said posts.

2. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said elongate centersection includes a pair of expansible members in telescopic engagementfor varying the distance between the bracket support means carried bysaid center section to thereby permit correctly gauging a desireddistance between the pair of posts.

3. An apparatus as claimed in claim 2 wherein said end members areconnected to said expansible members by pivot means whereby said endmembers may be horizontally positioned to permit engagement of thesupport means carried thereby with a pair of posts located along an arc.

4. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said pivoted arm meansincludes a pair of opposed arm members each pivotally supported by saidcarrier and means linking said arm members to said bracket support meansfor horizontally positioning said arm members.

5. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said post engagingplumbing means further includes an upright support for abutting contactwith one side of said post.

6. An apparatus as claimed in claim 5 wherein said one end member is oftubular form having an open end to receive internally both said one endof said carrier and an expansion spring for outwardly biasing saidcarrier to move said upright support carried thereby into contact withsaid one side of said post.

7. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said bracket support meanscomprises a U-shaped bracket including a pair of outwardly projectingarms adapted for supported engagement with a bar temporarily insertedwithin and extending transversely of a post.

8. An apparatus as claimed in claim 4 wherein said linking meansrestrains said arm members resulting in their horizontal outwardmovement to a postreceiving position upon extension of said carrier fromsaid end member and conversely said linking means resiliently biasessaid arm members inwardly to a post-engaging position upon inwardmovement of said carrier relative to its end member.

9. An apparatus as claimed in claim 1 wherein said carrier is supportedby said one end member in a manner permitting limited rotationalmovement of said carrier, said carrier includes a transverse end plate,said pivoted arm means comprises a pair of opposed arm members pivotallycarried by said end plate for horizontal swinging movement into biasedengagement with oposite sides of said post to tilt said plate, anupright support also carried by said end plate for pivotal movement intoabutment with still another side of said post and said visual meanscomprises a pair of s irit levels horizontally disposed at right anglesto each other upon said upright support whereby one of said levels willrespond to the plumb condition of said side of said post while the otherof said levels will respond to said opposite sides of the post.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 12/1964 Myles 3318O 9/1956 King33-480

1. AN APPARATUS FOR SPACING AND PLUMBING CONSECUTIVE GROUND SUPPORTEDPOSTS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION, AN ELONGATE CENTER SECTION FORPLACEMENT INTERMEDIATE A PAIR OF POSTS AND INCLUDING A PAIR OF ENDMEMBERS, BRACKET SUPPORT MEANS FOR SAID CENTER SECTION CARRIED BY SAIDEND MEMBERS AND POSITIONABLE INTO SUPPORTED AND FIXED RELATIONSHIPADJACENT TO THE UPPER END OF BOTH OF SAID POSTS, AND POST ENGAGINGPLUMBING MEANS COMPRISING IN COMBINATION AN ELONGATED CARRIER SLIDABLYSUPPORTED AT ONE OF ITS ENDS BY AND TELESCOPICALLY EXTENDABLE FROM ATLEAST ONE END MEMBER, PIVOTED ARM MEANS ATTACHED TO SAID CARRIER ANDPOSITIONABLE INTO AND OUT OF CONTACT WITH AT LEAST TWO SIDES OF SAIDPOST, VISUAL PLUMBINDICATING MEANS SUPPORTED BY SAID CARRIER ANDPOSITIONABLE BY SAID PIVOTED ARM MEANS TO INDICATE THE PLUMB CONDITIONOF SAID TWO SIDES OF ONE OF SAID POSTS.